Thanks to a grant from the UPS Foundation, 164 children were able to experience Junior Achievement programs at Franklin Primary School in Peoria over the last school year!  JA Our Region® was one of the grant funded programs.  Franklin fourth grade students learned about entrepreneurship and how entrepreneurs use resources to produce goods and services in a region.  JA Volunteer Mary Schmidt, Global Aftermarket, Marketing, & Brand, Caterpillar, loves how the children enjoy the games and other hands-on activities in JA Our Region!  “For me, the part that really seems to get the lightbulbs going and excitement building is when we talk about innovation and entrepreneurs.  Kids are all about the games and also very competitive.  They really enjoy the hotdog stand game and the ability to discuss the concepts in the game and how a business owner that we mentioned in the first week would have similar challenges,” she commented.